ITRS Conference to be held during SEMICON Europa 2005

INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP FOR SEMICONDUCTORS (ITRS) CONFERENCE TO BE HELD DURING SEMICON EUROPA 2005

Munich, Germany, 6 April 2005 -- SEMI® and the European Semiconductor Industry Association (EECA-ESIA) announced that, for the first time, a comprehensive public International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) conference will be held in conjunction with SEMICON Europa. An overview of the 2004 Update and the challenges of the next edition of the ITRS will be presented 12-13 April 2005 at the Messe Muenchen International, Munich, Germany. Additionally, announcements by the ITRS working groups of proposed changes will be discussed among the audience.

Normally the annual ITRS spring meeting in Europe is a series of committee meetings by each of the technology disciplines addressed in the Roadmap. In 2005, concurrent scheduling of the ITRS conference and SEMICON Europa allows attendees of the exposition to conveniently attend the informative ITRS forum.

The purpose of the ITRS is to provide a reference document of requirements, potential solutions, and their timing for the semiconductor industry. It identifies needs and encourages innovative solutions to meet future challenges. The key factor in the success of this Roadmap is the ongoing emphasis on obtaining consensus regarding industry drivers, requirements, and technology timelines.

The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors is the result of worldwide consensus building of over 1000 experts from the USA, Europe, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. It is a source of guidance for the semiconductor industry to continue to extend the advancement of semiconductor technology.

Five regions jointly sponsor The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductor, 2004 Update and are currently working on the 2005 edition. These organizations are the European Semiconductor Industry Association, the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association, the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association, and the United States Semiconductor Industry Association.

In the 2004 Update, many of the difficult challenges for the ITRS were revisited and updated to reflect the most current thinking and most critical tasks for semiconductor R&D. The Overall Technology Roadmap Characteristics were updated to reflect chapter table updates and to stay current with the latest industry developments.

The process of revision continues with the 2005 edition. The activities this year will result in a new edition, with several new topics and chapters. During this conference, the ITRS overall technology characteristics for future generations of particular products and architectures will be presented. Emerging research devices and materials will be highlighted. Other topics include Design and System Drivers, Test and Test Equipment, Process Integration, Lithography, Modeling and Simulation, Emerging Research Devices and Materials. Challenges regarding Front end Processes, Interconnect, Assembly and Packaging, Metrology, Yield, and Factory Integration will be presented.

Starting at 15:30 on Tuesday, 12 April, and continuing through Wednesday afternoon, the teams will ask the audience for input regarding critical challenges to keep the industry on a healthy growth trend. Recommendations for potential solutions, as well as identifying areas of innovation will be encouraged.

The European Semiconductor Industry Association (ESIA), part of the European Electronic Component manufacturers’ Association (EECA), represents the European-based manufacturers of semiconductor devices. The semiconductor industry provides the enabling technology, which is at the forefront of the development of the digital economy. The sector supports over 86,000 jobs in a market currently valued at around euro31.7 bn.